Crushing Reality
by 39addict101
Summary: Cara is on a mission-a mission to find out why certain . . . intimate photos of her family are being posted. But to find the motives behind the pictures, Cara must examine everything she knows about herself, her family, her hacking, her love life, and dig into the life of a hated traitor. Rated T for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

"Check in." Ian said. "Team A-agent 102, please check in."

She sighed, almost dreamily, hating how much she appreciated his voice.

"Check in, agent 102." He repeated and she jumped.

"All clear." She said.

She could visualize Ian nodding, checking her off of his mental list, and moving on to the next person. "Check in, agent 103, please check in."

She smiled to herself. The two of them were perfect leaders. They complimented each other nicely, she thought, and they balanced each other out.

He liked his tea prepared with cream, and she liked hers . . . ok, she didn't. She didn't drink tea. She drank what Ian called, "That black stuff that you Americans get from ButtMart or something."

"It's Walmart, Ian." She would chide, even while taking another sip of her black coffee.

"Agent 102?"

Rolling her eyes, she responded, "I'm clear, Ian, I already told you."

Someone snorted into the radio. "Worrying about your lover, Ian?"

Dan. Ugh. She groaned. That boy would be the death of her someday. But she had to admit, even if did so hate too, that he and his sister made a great team.

Just like she and Ian.

Ian's voice crackled through the speakers. "Cara, I need you to go to your designated point, you have a tryst with," his voice lowered, "jackel."

Cara snorted. "Ok, Ian. Whatever you say."

The only thing she didn't appreciate about Ian were his code names. He, of course, was agent 100, and agent 101 was Amy, only because she had insisted that if Ian was going to be 100, she was "sure as heck not going to let Cara be 101!"

Cara knew Amy thought of Ian only as a brother, but siblings tended to be close, and sometimes she felt left out, especially when they started referring to "Korea" or "Buffy" or "Hedges" or the "Mozart House where we creamed your socks off" or "Lake Tash".

She understood the last one, somewhat . . . it was a lake in some country somewhere foreign that started with a K.

Cara rolled her eyes. She didn't have time to reflect on relationship issues with Ian. "The jackal" was waiting for her and the last thing she needed was Ian running around screaming because she missed her rendezvous with an idiot, who also happened to be one of the top and most feared hackers around.

"Imbecile!" She heard Ian roar over the speakers. "Where are you, Dan? What in the good Queen's name are you doing?"

Cara spun around.

Instead of quietly moseying in as planned, Dan was zipping around on roller blades, bumping into annoyed men in business suits, mothers with strollers, teenagers with a passion for eye-rolling and head bobbing and-oh... There was the "jackal" now.

Cara stood up and walked towards him, keeping her face calm.

He sat down on a bench, his eyes staring off at the oak trees nearby, his hair slicked down perfectly.

Cara pulled a white rose out of her pocket and pinned it to her lapel. (That, of course, was Ian's doing. He had _insisted_ that she wear a fancy dress with a high collar, much to Cara's discomfort.)

She strode towards the man, her heels (also Ian's doing) musically clicking on the sidewalk. She brushed a stray hair out of her face and stared down at him. "Hello."

The man looked up at her, his face a mask of confusion until he spotted the white rose. "Well if it isn't the alleged April May, and barely out of her mother's womb."

Cara gritted her teeth. Online was so much better than IRL. In real life, people tended to judge. When you were online, people were less judgemental, and they didn't care if you were a just blonde teenager. All they cared about was that you were willing to hack into a certain old lady's email account to see if she had emailed her lawyer about her will. "Yes." She said. "I know I'm young." She forced herself to keep her voice calm. "But I can do the job, can't I?"

The man nodded, looking her up and down slowly. Dan breezed past, waving cheerily at them.

Cara groaned. Dan did not know the meaning of the word "low-key".

"Idiot teenagers." She said.

The man nodded.

Cara motioned towards the bench with her chin. "May I?"

The man nodded and Cara sat, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "What's the information for the CIA?" She asked, trying to stall for time.

The man looked surprised. "You mean, you don't know? I thought it was common knowledge for hackers, and especially one as bright as yourself, to not know."

Cara was still stalling. "Well, I did once." _Where are you, Dan?_

"What do you mean, 'once'?" The man stared at her with cold, disapproving eyes. "A good hacker does not forget such things."

Cara nodded, hanging her head. _C'mon, Dan!_ "I know. I was just so excited when I first intitially . . . " Cara paused, "...When I hacked it, that I forgot."

The man snorted. "Darling. One does not forget how to break around firewalls."

Cara shrugged. "Does it matter? You don't need me to break into the CIA."

"No." The man said. "I need you to hack the Cahills."

Cara's eyes widened. She almost gasped but caught herself. _Control yourself, Cara. Don't blow it now._ She swallowed. "No biggie. What do you need me to find out?"

Hack the Cahills? She had done that before, when she was working for her father under her alias, April May. But now that she was working with them . . . there was no need for her to hack. She had access to their files. What was she supposed to do? If they were going to get this . . _important_ information from the man, she had to do something.

The man cleared his throat. Evidently he had been thinking the whole time also. "I need you to find some dirt on Ian Kabra."

"What?" Cara burst out, before she could catch herself. Ian Kabra was the sweetest, most original guy she had ever met. "I mean . . . of course. That should be easy."

Just as she was about to ask what he needed the information for, the man nodded. "I'll need the information in a week. We'll talk then." He stood up and was gone, vanishing into the crowd like vapor in the sun.

Cara held up a hand, but it was too late. "Wait." She whispered. "No."

"Agent 102?" Ian's voice said in her earpiece. "Are you ok? I heard one side of the conversation. What happened?"

Cara was struggling to breathe. "I just failed us." She said. "And now he wants me to find out some dirt . . . about you."

* * *

 **Hi. . . . I didn't write this or anything.**

 **Um . . . yeah.**

 **So.**

 **How's life?**

 **Um AUGH, OK FINE I WROTE A CARIAN. KILL ME. (and pls, do it quickly)**


	2. Chapter 2

Ian didn't say anything for a long time. When he spoke, he was calm. (Just another thing Cara loved about Ian, he could compose himselves in the most difficult and awkward situations).

"Why? Did you find that out?"

Cara shook her head. "No. And Dan . . ." She paused, shuddering. "He was just wheeling around on his stupid skates, waving at us. The man wasn't stupid. He knew!"

Hamilton spoke up, his voice loud in Cara's ear. "No, Cara, he didn't know. He's a hacker. He stares at screens all day. He's an idiot in the real world."

"Wow." Cara said sarcastically. "Thanks. I guess I'm an idiot in the real world. too."

"No." Amy said, also speaking up. "Cara, you've been helpful to us in so many ways."

"And that's not what I meant." Hamilton said. "But this is this guy's job. He like . . . does it for . . . like his living."

Cara snorted. "And because I don't it means I'm not an idiot?"

Hamilton didn't say anything.

Ian cut in. "Cara, you're a genius. And Hamilton, I know you were trying to cheer Cara up, but it didn't work."

"Hey!" Ham sputtered.

Dan cut in. "Guys, that guy is still sitting in the park, just staring at his phone like he just discovered something monumental."

Cara jumped. "Where is he? Tell me exactly! Maybe I can hack him!" She whipped out her phone and began punching in codes, her fingers flying over the keypad, like a skilled pianist on his piano.

"Got him!" She said a moment later. Then she groaned. "Dan, the man is looking at pornography." She looked closer at the picture and then shuddered. "But guys . . . I . . ." She cleared her throat.

"What is it?" Ian demanded. "Leak."

Jonah cleared his throat, making Cara jump in surprise. "Ian, how many people do you have on here?" She asked, while Jonah said, "Ian, I think the word you're looking for is 'spill'."

"Precisely what I said." Ian said. "And Cara, I only have top agents on here, all one hundred and five of them."

Cara choked. "You're kidding, right?" _What an adorable idiot._

"Of course I'm kidding, woman!" Ian roared. "Now tell us what's so important."

Cara paled instantly. "Amy . . . I . . . I'm sorry?"

"Why?" Amy said.

"Because!" Cara shrieked. "These are pictures of you and . . ." Cara cleared her throat. "Ham."

"What?" Amy yelped.

"What?" Ham growled.

"What?" Dan yelled. "You will find this man and kill him. And post pictures of him naked online. While he's dead."

No one said anything. The silence dragged on.

"Uh . . . Dan?" Amy said. "What do you look at online?"

Cara could almost see Dan jump. "Nothing . . . I mean, it was all over the place. You know that guy, that creepy one that killed woman and posted . . ."

Cara cut him off. "That's enough Dan. I know what you're talking about. Trust me, the deep web is not a safe place to be."

Ian cleared his throat. "How do you know what Hamilton looks like naked?" Ian asked, sounding as if he had a frog in his throat.

"I don't!" Cara yelled. "I mean . . . I do now, but . . ."

Dan broke in. "Guys. We need to meet. Face to face."

"Yeah." Jonah said. "I wanna see those pictures."

"Absolutely not!" Hamilton and Amy yelled.

"Yeah!" Dan yelled. "No one is seeing those pictures." Dan paused. "Hey . . . Amy? How'd that man get those pictures unless you and Ham . . ." He gagged.

 _Realization dawns_. Cara thought, smirking, even though she knew no one could see her. "Yeah, Amy. Where'd this happen?"

Ham and Amy were silent.

"Yam." Dan said.

"What the . . ." Ian said. "We were talking about Amy sleeping with Hamilton. Why are you talking about a sweet edible tuber?"

"Ham and Yam." Dan said. Amy and Ham have the same two basic letters, _a_ and _m_. The _H_ is _Ham_ is in the front, so I moved the _Y_ in _Amy_ to the front too and now you have two foods. Ham and Yam."

Amy groaned. "My brother is a dork."

Dan groaned. "My sister slept with a Tomas."

"Hey!" Ham said. "Is that an insult?"

"Yes." Ian snapped. "Cara, where are you? I'm coming, and so is the rest of the team."

"Yo." Jonah complained. "How come _we_ have to move and _she_ gets to stay where she is?"

"Because." Dan said. "Ian _looooves_ her. I bet there's a picture of them on that site too." Cara's heartbeat picked up, just like it always did whenever someone mentioned that Ian liked her.

"I, for your information," Ian said. "Have not touched her." He paused. "Except for that one time. In the car. In the dark. With the stars overhead. She was wearing that neat bikini until I took-"

"TMI, Ian." Cara said, interrupting. The rest of the Cahills didn't need to know about the one time she'd slept with Ian. A time that was sacred to her.

No one said anything.

"What's t-m-i?" Ian asked, breaking the silence.

Dan groaned. Cara heard a slap and assumed it was Dan smacking his forehead. "Too Much Information, Brit."

"Well at least I'm not an American git!" Ian yelled. He took a deep breath and spoke normally. "Cara, where are you?"

"That café we passed a while ago." She said. "Leonard's? You know?"

Ian groaned. "That place? It smells like McDonalds on a day without electricity."

"Great. Ian. Just great." Amy said. "I'm coming, Cara. I need to see those pictures."

* * *

 **Don't ask where this came from. (my mind is a horrible place)**

 **SO... thanks to GB09 for reviewing! Um... honestly, to answer your questions... I have read farther than Unstoppable. Currently, I'm savoring the last book ever *cries* in the 39 Clues series,** ** _Outbreak_** **and... I guess ... over the previous series (Outcast one, what's that called? I know it's like Mission Whatever for the books but I don't remember what the series is called. I'm so bad. Kill me) Anyway, over the last series Carian has really grown on me.**

 **And I know I've been so prejudiced against it. And I know I've hated on it. And I know I've hated on those who have written it. (Star, Choc, I'm soooooo sorry, lk, I am such a hypocrite, pls forgive me!)**

 **And... THIS IS NOT MY NEW OTP. As I'm sure many of you know, I am a multi-shipper. As in I ship Amian, Jamy, Evamy, Hamead, Jonead, Jonellie (GOOOO JONELLIE!) Nellie/Sammy (what's that ship called, Sellie? Nammy? NelSam? lol) DanIan, um... hang on, let me think,,,,,, Natan,,,,, Amy/Natalie,,,,, um,,,,,, Atticus/Natalie um,,,,, Pheonix/Natalie, Alistair/ Irina and Hope/Vikram so yeah... as you can see,,, I'm kind of weird, loving ships that contrast with each other. And now... I can add Carian to that list.**

 **I'm sorry I have been prejudiced in the past. And I will acknowledge that I have been a jerk. But hopefully y'all can forgive me?**

 **And also just to say this again, this is not my OTP.**

 **My one true pairing is always, and will always be, Amian.**

 **Call me a freak for shipping two ships that totally contrast and destroy each other, but this is Addict you're talking about, ok?**

 **And also... wow, what the heck that is a long author's note. I'll shut up now.**

 **Please review, and don't hate, please. (although I certainly deserve it, posting a story celebrating the worst possible ship ever...)**


End file.
